Satisfaction

It's not much. Rather, it's a pretty boring picture. However, this picture, which shows the main page for the Ariba Sourcing application, depicts our success at AIG. Ironically, I've spent the past month or so trying to get this page to display. Granted, the Sourcing application is only 1 out of the 4 applications of the entire Ariba Spend Management package but we ran into a lot of obstacles trying to get all 4 applications hooked up and running and Sourcing happened to be the last one.

The good news is that most of the problems weren't our fault. As a matter of fact, I don't recall a time we were the cause of a problem. A lot of time was spent just waiting for other tasks to be completed, significantly, database issues (which can be very time consuming due to large file sizes). Well, after numerous days of frustration, communication breakdowns, and suppressing the urge to throw the monitor across the room, we finally reached one of the main stepping stones of our project. I was so happy that I figured it would be worthwhile to mention it in my blog. Besides, I haven't posted anything since I got herpes in Vegas...

Las Vegas - Day 1

New York - Day 1

It's Labor Day. For most people that means a three day weekend and a chance to sleep in late on a Monday...and perhaps start up the grill for some good eats for lunch or dinner. For me, however, it turned out to be an extremely early start since I was up at 5 AM to catch a flight to NY. I tried to change my flight to an afternoon flight but the Airline Nazis wanted to charge me $800 for the change. Given that the ticket was about $200 to begin with, I consider that robbery. On the bright side, that meant no lines at the security check point, or traffic from LaGuardia to midtown Manhattan.

Since this is my first time in NYC, I didn't know quite what to expect. I've only seen NYC through the eyes of Hollywood film makers but knowing how they like to exaggerate and how full of shit they are sometimes, I didn't really take any of it into consideration.

Surprisingly, I felt quite at home. It felt a lot like walking the streets of Seoul, Korea with all the walking, a whiff of rotting garbage here, and a whiff of serious body odor there. Furthermore, you see a lot of people who dress like clowns and think they're starting the new "thing" in fashion when they look so freakin' retarded. It reminded me of the time I was walking in Seoul and saw a kid with corn rows...have you ever seen an Asian kid with corn rows? It looks freakin' retarded. Nevertheless, it was quite a charming experience and surprisingly, I felt nostalgia for Seoul.

I walked most of midtown down 7th avenue and Broadway just seeing all of the little shops and businesses, including some nomadic ones selling designer bags and beautiful watches. Tempting... Then I decided to get acquainted with the subway system and took a ride down to Wall St. where I enjoyed lunch from a hot dog vendor, looking at where the World Trade Center used to be, and fighting off the diseased, bold pigeons (I'm used to birds being scared of humans but these pigeons have balls. At one point, I waved my hand to scare one off and actually hit the little fucker and it just sat there and looked at me with a "What the fuck was that for?" expression. I didn't want it to call its fellow clan members and attack me so I gave him/her a piece of bread. Then all hell broke loose because all the other nasty ass pigeons came flying in so I had to get the hell out of there. I probably looked really ridiculous but it was fun. I wonder if I need any vaccination…) Then it was back to the hotel to do some work for a couple of hours and after that, I headed north to check out Central Park after dinner. Aside from the smell of horse shit once in a while, it was a pleasant walk. It was definitely cool to be able to go from skyscrapers to a wooded setting in a couple of minutes...almost like warping to a different state.

The following are some thoughts I had during my walks today:

1. Wow that woman must be anorexic.
2. Look, there's another one.
3. I think that one's bulimic.
4. There's a lot of Asians here...and I'm not even in Chinatown. Definitely a different scenery from all the rednecks that I'm used to.
5. No sweet tea?!? Get the fuck outta here...
6. What the hell is that smell? Did I piss myself?
7. That dude needs a shower....BAD.
8. Oh...she's kind of cute. OH MY GOD, it's a DUDE. Happy thoughts...happy thoughts...bunnies, pumpkin pie, puppies... I need to go take a shower.
9. There's a lot more smokers than I expected. I should buy a pack. $8 for a pack? WTF?
10. [While waiting for a train]I wonder if that guy is just sleeping or if he's dead. I should poke him and find out.

On another note, I actually got 4 requests to take a picture and one couple actually asked me for directions. I'm not sure if that means I look like a local but I definitely had no problem fitting in. Like I mentioned before, it felt like home.

Tomorrow is the start of the main reason I'm here. Work. I'm not sure if I'll have much time to explore NY as much as I did today but I'm sure I'll experience a whole lot of cool things in the next 5 months. I just need to watch how much I drink here so I don't end up with a tranny.

Google Earth

I found my mom's 2000 Toyota Camry on Google Earth. It's not easy finding someone's vehicle but I guess if you're parked at the same spot almost everyday then the chances are you're going to be there when they take a picture from space.

The picture shows my parent's restaurant in Greensboro, NC. My parents always park on the far left next to the dumpsters.

BBC Rocks!

This used to be in the "Links" section of my blog but I decided to move it over. It's a great article...fine journalism.

BBC Article

Department of Homeland Security: Advocates of the Mile High Club

While reading over some of the new rules for airports, I came across the following bit of information. This is from the Transportation Security Administration website (http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm):

To ensure the health and welfare of certain air travelers the following items are permitted.

• blah blah blah
• Up to 4 oz. of essential non-prescription liquid medications including saline solution, eye care products and KY jelly

I guess what they're trying to say is, "We're sorry we're making it such a pain in the ass (for some, literally) to travel but please understand it's really not our fault. You see, it's those damn terrorists who ruin it for everyone and we can't afford another tragedy like Sept 11 (who knows which country Bush will go after if we have another incident? Hell, Osama Bin Laden could strike again and he'll probably wage war on North Korea). Even though it's not our fault, we're nice people so we're going to try to make it a little better for you. Let's see...what can we do... Larger bags of peanuts? One free beer coupon per person 21 years of age or older? Oh oh oh...how about a nice high altitude fuck for those boring flights? You likey?"

Do I feel safe? Not really. I truly belive that if there's a will there's a way. Put MacGyver in a flight with a wooden toothpick, a rubberband, a paper clip, and 4 0z. of KY jelly. He'll blow that shit up in no time and still find the time to make a parachute for himself using peanut bag wrappers.

TightVNC

My freshman year in college, I bought an IBM desktop for school. The thing is huge...it weighs about 40 pounds. Despite its large size, it has a 13 GB disk and 128 MB of RAM. Pretty pathetic when compared to today's standards but back then, it was top of the line.

The computer has been sitting in my brother's room for the last couple of years but he continuously breaks it by infecting it with tons of spyware and viruses. He states most of them are from porn sites...at least he's honest. So being the big brother that I am, I stole it back from him in hopes that this old beast could have a nice new home to live in and live the rest of its live without suffereing from constant popups about penis enlarging supplements.

After a couple of hours, I had Windows 2000 installed on it along with all of the newest patches from Microsoft. In addition to the OS and related patches, I have an old version of Norton, SpyBot, and other minor applications installed. I still have no idea what I'm going to do with it but I figure it would be nice to have a mini server hooked up to my network.

I definitely didn't want to have a monitor hooked up to it but rather wanted to control it from my laptop. Unfortunately, since it's running Windows 2000 I couldn't set it up as a host for the Remote Desktop Connection that comes with XP so I started off by using NetMeeting. I like NetMeeting when it's used for video conferencing. In college I would video conference with my family in Korea using NetMeeting and the picture and sound quality were pretty good. There was a 2 second delay but when you consider packets going all the way around the world and the fact that it was free, I could deal with a 2 second delay. When it comes to Remote Desktop Sharing, however, NetMeeting is pretty useless.

After searching the web, I found a open source project called TightVNC. It's basically a client server application that lets you see the desktop of a remote machine and control it. It's pretty easy to set up and works like a charm and I'd even prefer it over XP's Remote Desktop Connection. Working at blue, I've come across a couple different open source applications out there and I must admit all of them are pretty impressive. This would definitely be something you should check out if you're an open source advocate.

Chloe

Most people go to the golf course and bring back stories of a birdie or, on a lucky day, an eagle. I'm a little different... About a month ago, I came back from the golf course with a puppy.

I was on the driving range and my glove was coming apart. The loose threads inside the glove felt weird and I wasn't striking the ball as usual. So I sat down at a nearby bench and started tearing my glove apart and when I looked up there was a little puppy sitting right next to me. She scared the shit out of me at first because I spotted her with my peripheral vision but once I saw her wagging tail I calmed down a bit.

There's a house right across the road from the club house that houses about 20 dogs. It's annoying as hell sometimes on the driving range because a loud chopper will go by and all 20 dogs go ape shit. I figured she came from that house so I took her and knocked on the door but no one seemed to be home. If she was an ugly dog, I think I would have left her on the golf course but she seemed hungry and dehydrated and her puppy eyes pleaded not to leave her by herself so I decided to take her home for the night and take her to the animal shelter the following day.

When I got home, Michelle fell in love with the dog instantly. We were talking about getting Brownie a playmate anyways and instead of purchasing another pure breed with tons of health problems from the constant Arkansas/West Virginia tradition of cousin-fucking, we figured this would be a cheaper option. Of course when we took her to the vet we found that she was infested with fleas and worms but nothing a couple of shots and pills couldn't fix.

It's potty training all over again for us but it's getting better with time. Chloe is a hell of a lot smarter than Brownie and she already knows how to sit, stay, and shake hands on command. We're expecting her to be about 60 lbs when she's fully grown and that should add a nice little feature to the home security system. Some people pay a monthly fee for home security systems. Any burglar is welcome into my house as long as they're prepared to deal with a 60 pound dog and a possible 30-06 round from a high powered deer rifle. That's right...I'm redneck...Korean by birth, Southern by the grace of God.

Freakin' Incredible

I found http://youtube.com while browsing the web and it's provided me with hours of entertainment. I have seen some of the most amazing spectacles of my life on this site. If you have some time to kill, this is definitely the place to do it.

The following was my favorite vid:

Daaaaa Bulls

The Executive Suite at United Center

Benny the Bull floating around

Action on the court

I've never been a fan of any pro sport other than golf but it's always cool to experience new things. I was able to experience a NBA game today watching the Chicago Bulls play the Orlando Magic (Orlando won 97 - 93). What was even cooler was that I was able to enjoy the experience in an executive suite with plenty of food and an endless supply of beer. I must admit, the experience would have been so much cooler if it was back in the golden age of the Bulls when Jordan, Pippen, Kucoc, Rodman, and Kerr would be playing. Unfortunately, I had to deal with watching two ex-dookies play - Luol Deng and Chris Duhon for the Bulls (Grant Hill didn't play). Nevertheless, good times. I'm really looking forward to catching a Cubs' game at Wrigley Field...I think that would be something to look forward to.

Treo 700w

Cell phones are getting beefed up with a whole bunch of additional features these days and for the most part, it seems like most of these extra features are pretty much worthless. I mean seriously, who the hell wants to watch TV on a small ass screen? I remember the good old days when a phone was just a phone but now a days it's hard to even find a phone without a camera on it.

Luckily, for those of us who aren't into the pre-pubescent, middle-school cheerleader targeted features, there's the Treo Smartphone from Palm. Designed mostly for business purposes, it's truly a wonderful little gadget. Most significantly, it enables one to access email virtually anywhere and view Word, Excel, and Powerpoint attachments on the go. It also has a decent web browser and the potential for the installation of new applications that could come in handy.

My 2 year Sprint contract recently ran out so I got my hands on the new Treo 700w from Verizon. I wasn't too excited at the fact that the Treo 700w ran using a Windows OS rather than a Palm OS (phobia of the blue screen of death) but I soon found myself comfortable with the fond functionalities of a Windows OS (i.e. Ctrl-a highlights all). The email capability is definitely kick ass and will definitely come in handy at airports or on the road when pulling out my laptop is just a pain in the ass. Also, there's a simplified version of MapQuest that's available through IE that will most certainly be used when I'm in new cities driving around in my rental. Also, with the email capability, the camera becomes much more useful. On my previous phone, emailing a picture was a major pain in the ass. However, now with my Treo, I take a picture, and with a couple of clicks it's in my outbox ready to be sent out as an attachment. Golden! Furthermore, I was lucky enough to have an extra 256 MB memory card, which I initially bought for my digital camera, laying around that is compatible with my Treo so I'll be able to put some pictures and/or MP3s without compromising the limited built in memory.

I must admit that the Treo is a bit bigger than my last phone but that's something that is necessary. I can't imagine browsing the web or checking emails on a smaller screen but it's going to take some time for me to get used to having such a clunky device up to my head. Also, navigating without the stylus is a bit difficult but at the same time, I don't want to pull out the stylus pen every single time. But these are little details that can easily be forgotten when I reassure myself of all the positive aspects of the Treo.

The default sound files that came with the Treo were disappointing. Crappy MIDI files that sounds like shit. But no worries... I was able to import a couple of MP3s and WAV files that I appreciate and set up my phone just as I like it. Now, instead of a crappy ring, my Treo plays the theme song from The Office (UK version of course...on that note what's the theme song for the American version of The Office?) whenever there's an incoming call. Also, you'll hear a very familiar "You've Got Mail" notification whenever new mail arrives. The possibilities are endless!

The Office

You know a TV show is great when you're watching a show and you actually feel as if the situation on screen is happening in real life. The Office (UK version) is just that... You watch the show and the entire time you feel awkward and embarrassed as if you're the one committing the unimaginable acts performed by the socially retarded David Brent (played by Ricky Gervais).

I just had to buy this complete series set since this is probably my second favorite TV series after the Family Guy. In my opinion, it's just genius, although I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people don't get it. It's definitely a different type of humor.

It's also bitter-sweet. The entire series consists of 12 episodes and 2 Christmas special episodes that wrap things up. 14 episodes seem like too little but at the same time, there is no way The Office can be dragged on more than that. In my personal opinion, I think that's the beauty of it. It portrays the entire story line in 14 episodes, it captures the full attention of the viewers and ends at the top of its game. But the viewer isn't fully satisfied... The viewer wants more.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, creators of The Office, were summoned by NBC to continue on with an American version of The Office. I haven't seen an episode of the American version mainly because I'm afraid I'm going to be disappointed (Have you seen American Dad? It's amazing that Seth MacFarlane can create something as good as Family Guy but turn around and fuck up so badly with American Dad. It's probably because all he did was mimic Family Guy with different characters... There's no originality with American Dad). Also, the cast of the UK version was so perfect that I don't think the American version can even come close to the UK version even if they have Steve Carell. How do you top characters like Gareth Keenan (played by Mackenzie Crook) and Keith Bishop (played by Ewen Macintosh)? However, I did put the first season of the American version in my Netflix queue just to see how good or bad it is. The general consensus seems to be that the American version isn't too bad, although the UK version is better. I have a feeling that when it comes to contemplating the purchase of the American version of The Office, it won't be a no brainer as it was with the UK version.

Consulting in a Nutshell

Click on picture for a larger image

Byun's iPod

NOTE: I hate Bono so I replaced his worthless pic with something more of value. So fuckin' sue me iNazis!!

You can't go a day these days without seeing some kind of advertisement for the iPod. The sleek looking MP3 player has become the next hip gadget that everyone wants. Fortunately, unlike cell phones, it doesn't really create an annoying environment in public.

I'm amazed that it took me such a long time to get an iPod. Perhaps it's because music isn't such a big component in my life and most of the time I'm listening to music I'm in my car. Up until this point, I figured it would be much more cost effective just to burn CDs for the drives. Well, this year my state tax return was $350+ so I went out and got myself an iPod Video...30 GB and black. I figured once I start traveling, I would have something to do and always have a great excuse on hand not to start up a conversation with a stranger on the plane. As it turns out I'm kind of glad that I waited this long because the iPod Video is freakin' sweet!

I went with the 30 GB because there will be no way in hell I'd ever have more than 30 GB of music. The process of finding songs and downloading them is a pain in the ass and I'm too lazy to take interest. However, I found a way to burn DVDs and convert them into MP4 format and then transfer them to the iPod. Full length movies are kind of worthless because you can't skip between chapters so it's really hard to navigate on the iPod. So what did I do? As a Famliy Guy fan, I took it upon myself to start my own project of burning and converting all 4 seasons of the Family Guy out on DVD and upload them to my iPod. I say project because you have to burn each individual episode and the conversion takes forever!

So now, my iPod is fully loaded with 63 episodes of Family Guy and I've only used about 10 GB of space. This is including all my music as well as some of my favorite pictures. Perhaps I would have been better off buying the 60 GB model if I had known that I could store Family Guy episodes. But I think by the time I fill 30 GB, a new generation of iPods will be out with even more features and perhaps a better battery.

The one only complaint I have is that the iPod wasn't really built for video. It almost seems like a worthless feature. According to the specs on apple.com the 30 GB model is able to output 14 hours of music playtime and 2 hours of video playback. I guess 2 hours isn't too bad since that's about the same time a laptop runs on batteries but that's only 4 episodes of Family Guy. Also, not to mention that the iPod battery is only capable of 500 recharges (fully depleted and fully recharged). I guess it's a good thing that Apple started a battery replacement program just in case it turns out watching Family Guy episodes abuses the battery and shortens its life. Nevertheless, I'm definitely going to enjoy being able to watch my favorite TV show during those boring flights and I don't think many people can say they have 63 episodes of genius on their iPods.